Posted on 02 February
2011
Arctic oil drilling plans of BP and Rosneft
overlap with some key protected areas, a
joint WWF and and Transparent World analysis
(see the map) shows.
The Novaya Zemlya is
one of the parks affected by the recently
announced plans to drill for oil in the
South Kara Sea identified by the Russian
government.
“These protected areas
are now in peril,” says Aleksey Knizhnikov
of WWF-Russia. “The natural values they
were set up to protect - pristine ecosystems,
the seabirds, the polar bears, the marine
mammals - are in jeopardy.
"This makes it
even more urgent and important for the two
companies to re-examine their drilling plans,
and for the Russian government to also take
a good look at how or if the companies should
be allowed to drill in this area. Surely
we are not so desperate for oil that we
will tear down the boundaries of protected
areas to get it.”
It was established by
decree of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
in 2009. In discussing the need for Arctic
protected areas at a forum last year Prime
Minister Putin said, “An irresponsible attitude
towards the Arctic could spell global problems,
rather than global advantages, in the near
future.”
The Russian government
is not only the regulator of oil and gas
activities in offshore Russia; it is also
the majority shareholder in Rosneft.
“In the light of the
climate driven changes in this region, and
across the Arctic, we need to be looking
at ways in which we can help Arctic animals
and peoples transition to a new and very
different reality”, says Alexander Shestakov,
Director of WWF’s Global Arctic Programme.
“Parking oil rigs beside protected areas
is definitely not going to help.”
WWF is asking all governments
and companies around the Arctic to hold
off on any new oil drilling until the oil
companies can prove they have identified
and assessed all risks based on full knowledge
of local ecosystems.
They must also prove
that they can prevent accidents and are
capable of timely and effective lean up
of oil spills on ice-covered waters.
